Photo credit: Alex Brandon

Troy Brouwer has struggled this year. Despite his five tallies he has posted team-worst possession numbers along with linemate Brooks Laich. The 28-year-old has scored just one goal at even-strength. Friday night, Brouwer tried to contribute in other ways. Namely, punching people in the face.

It started when Brouwer ran Montreal Canadiens defenseman Andrei Markov in the near corner. Though the hit was clean, T-Brow skated a long way to make the check. Flashy defenseman P.K. Stubban, apparently, didn’t like that. The goal-scoring d-man shoved Brouwer before asking him to drop the gloves. Troy obliged.

“I just came in and finished my check,” Brouwer told me. “He wasn’t happy with it.”

Brouwer’s Fight With PK Subban

The fight itself looked more like thumb wrestling than boxing, with the two locking arms and exchanging few jabs. Eventually, they fell to the ice.

“Anytime you can generate a spark for your team, get one of their best players off the ice, it’s a good situation,” Brouwer said.

“If you’re asking kinda a fighting question, I think it should be in the game,” he added, though I wasn’t. “There’s a result of just one guy sticking up for his teammate. … Good hockey play all around.”

Brouwer continued roughing it up with Canadiens, getting very pissy when he lost his stick in the Habs net. Though I didn’t see who it was, Brouwer shoved a Montreal skater and continued screaming at him from the bench.

Brouwer’s early jolt, though, was lost on the Capitals. They continued suck until the third period. Brouwer, however, did register an assist on Alex Ovechkin power play pinball.

Brouwer’s Assist On Ovechkin’s Goal